Birthday Girl
by SketchFox
Summary: A tribute to my beloved Taiwan! Happy Double Ten Day!


DOUBLE TEN DAY! Exactly 100 years since Taiwan first officially became independent. I LOVE YOU TAIWAN!

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Taiwan sighed as she tossed herself onto her bed. Lying on her stomach, she waved her legs lazily about while reading the latest issue of ½ Prince(1). However, even the antics of the characters in her favorite comic couldn't erase the gloom that settled upon her. Tossing the comic aside, she grabbed a pillow and whined into it, rolling about. It was her birthday! She ought to be happy, no?

A knock at her door alerted her. Sitting up, she tilted her head, wondering who it could be. For a brief few minutes, she pondered as to whether she ought to answer, but as the knocking became even more persistent, Taiwan sighed and rolled off the bed. "Coming," she called wearily. _At least I'll have something to do…_

Upon opening the door, Taiwan's eyes widened with surprise than narrowed again. China stood framed in the doorway, smiling. "Hello Taiwan~!" Sighing in annoyance, Taiwan pursed her lips and crossed her arms firmly across her chest. "What do you want _now_, brother?" Her elder brother's face drooped at her unfriendly tone of voice and Taiwan felt a slight pang of guilt that was quickly pushed aside. _It's not as if he doesn't deserve it._ Steeling her resolve once more, she tilted her head to stare up into his face and scowled. "Well? I'm waiting."

China sighed at the unrelenting attitude of his younger sister. He didn't remember teaching her to act this way, but then again, he had to admit that he didn't seem to have a way with his younger siblings. Japan had betrayed him, Korea was constantly molesting him, trying to have China become part of him, and Hong Kong…he had nearly been blasted through his roof just the other day by a firecracker that had somehow appeared in the cushions of his chair.

Taiwan was starting to get annoyed. Had her annoying sibling come all this way just to stand there and stare off into space while giving off melancholy sighs? And why was he starting to stare at her like that? Losing her patience, Taiwan kicked him in the shins. Hard. "What do you want, stupid brother?"

Tears overflowing down his face from the intense pain, China forced a smile onto his face. "J-Just checking in on you, aru." He quickly hopped back a few steps as he saw the ominous twitch of his sister's eyebrows. Not that he was scared. He was just terrified. _Why me…? Why not Japan? He could have kept her in check. But noooo, he was in charge of decoration. _Craning his neck to one side, he peeked past Taiwan.

The girl immediately stepped in front of him, blocking his line of vision. Her looked rather testy as she addressed him once again. "One more time, China. What. Do. You. Want." China began to panic. She was calling him China. That meant her patience was running on basically zero. "Uh…" He dithered, stalling for time, while he straightened, looking behind Taiwan. Then came the signal. Brightening considerably, China gave his sister a mega-watt smile. "HAPPY HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY, ARU!"

A look of surprise dawned on the girl's face, then it was immediately followed by pure joy. A sharp stab of pain thrust into China's heart as he watched his sister's gleeful face, but it was immediately pushed away. Grabbing her shoulders, he spun her around.

Taiwan's jaw nearly dropped as she was turned about. Mere minutes before, her house had been empty, with only herself in it. Now, it was packed with the various nations, various decorations hanging all over the place, obliterating all signs that the house had once been empty and alone. Taiwan looked into the smiling faces of her Asian siblings, Canada, Italy, Germany…and so many others. "Wha…" Her voice trailed off in wonder, feeling overwhelmed.

Japan smiled in his quiet way. "We felt that you should not be celebrating this day alone. After all, birthdays are very important." Korea immediately bounced up, shoving a party hat onto her head. "Yeah yeah, did you know that birthdays originated in Korea, da-ze?" Taiwan sweat-dropped, as did the other nations. Prussia immediately elbowed him out of the way, a large mug of foaming beer in hand, and slung an arm about Germany's shoulders. "Yeah, whatever. We all know that I'm the most awesome here. Or anywhere in fact." Lifting the mug high, he roared, sloshing beer foam everywhere, and ignoring Germany's protests. "A TOAST! LET'S HAVE A TOAST!"

Taiwan laughed as Prussia slung his other arm about her as well. The smiling faces surrounding her imprinted themselves in her memory as waves of happiness washed over her. She wasn't alone. She had friends and family. Birthdays really were an important day, even if they didn't originate from Korea.

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Please review~!


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